After reading some opinion essays for inspiration, the piece by Tish Warren inspired me to write about therapy. Specifically, why therapy should not always be the first option but spending time with friends and family and finding a hobby as better alternatives. Some of my reasoning is that it can take a long time to find a therapist that connects with you, therapy can be expensive per session, and plenty of sleep and regular exercise are far better solutions in the long run. I will link down below some relatable articles I found as well as Tish Warren’s opinion piece.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/opinion/burnout-friends-isolation.html
https://www.thecut.com/2015/10/ask-polly-why-do-you-always-recommend-therapy.html
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/04/ce-corner
This is a very interesting opinion piece. I have plenty of things I’m interested on what you will write about!
I agree with Eldza, it is totally interesting.
Of course, Christian, you can anticipate my next question: Do you have a personal relation to this question?
I, for one, have been in therapy since I was young, so I guess I could say I do… so I might be your first comment if you do write this essay : )
–I totally understand if you want to write back in private, and meantime, I will check out your helpful links! BTW: you can make comments and all OpenLab posts “private” as well.
Tish warren’s opinion editorial was a good piece of reading material and so very interesting like Eldza and you had said. Christian, I think therapy is something so great to write about you can take it in either direction. Like you said you think of a more holistic at home through friends’, family, and exercise approach is better, but then on the other hand so many people in this world cannot function, feel mentally stable, or happy unless they are seeing a therapist. I’m very excited to hear more about what you’re going to write. I’m really interested in exercise, and I think it’s great that you mentioned that as a solution instead of therapy because in my opinion editorial I’m thinking of writing about how exercise helped me get through the pandemic physically, mentally, and emotionally and how important it can be affecting us and helping improve our minds and bodies in so many different ways.
The topic for my unit 2 opinion piece is going to be the treatment of retail employees. I currently work at Aldi the supermarket and prior to a new district manager being hired, not much was being done with the way that the managers had treated the employees. We were constantly “yelled” at for not meeting their standards of what they wanted even though we were trying out best. Once our old district manager had left we started to see reform and a change in the way the manager treat us and it makes me and some others feel as if we actually have a voice and they are actually listening. I am going to write about the reform, the prior treatment, and how it made me feel along as others. I was concerned about finding sources that i will need for the piece but im sure i could find stories somewhere on the internet of retail managers treating their employees bad.
So, we just talked about this, and I say yes, learning more about the work culture of Aldi, about what it means to speak up, about ethical treatment (and how management just never “gets” it) et al will be worthwhile — all because you are a stakeholder in this discussion. “Zone Coverage” (Aldi makes you work on zones, which is a weird practice) or “Diary of a Solitary Employee” or “My Days As an Efficient Person — Are Numbered?” are some working titles that come to my mind but hey, what do I know.
I can relate to where you are coming from. I used to work at Pathmark supermarket for 3 years and some of the management always treated the employees absolutely horribly, meanwhile the employees always went above and beyond. There is always going to be that one manager that attempts to ruins it for people and ends up taking away opportunities but like you said your voices will be heard! Can’t wait to hear more about this.